Princess Charming
by GreenEmeraldGirlxoxo
Summary: AU. /"Anyway, back to business. Get off the rags, blah blah blah, clean ya up blah blah blah and be back before eleven thirty four kapish?" "Eleven thirty four? I thought it was midnight?" Natsu exclaims. "Midnight is so boring. Besides, there was a rule change ever since the incident years ago."/ Twisted Cinderella tale, NaLu.


**Pairings: Natsu x Lucy, others implied.**

**Timeline?: AU in the past**

**Authors note: Just some fluff **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

**XXX**

Natsu scooped out the ash from the fire, laughing a little to himself as if it were some significant victory. Ash crumbled between his fingertips, gently caressing the dirty floor.

He found an odd connection to cinders, ever since he'd been forced to the house work. Although, he had a terrible habit of blowing things up, purely accidental of course. So, since then, his step father and brothers continued to make him clean up the mess.

"Are you done with the floors yet?" His step-brother asked haughtily. Gray, the elder of the two step-brother's, leaned against the door frame with an aura of arrogance. Natsu, being the innocent, simple minded boy that he was, found no fault in the way Gray spoke to him.

"Not yet, I'm cleaning the cinders," Natsu says cheerfully. "I'll beat you one day though, you can count on it."

Gray's eyes narrowed, "What?" The pinked haired man simply ignored him, opting for sweeping ash into his hand. He streaked his face with war markings and stood up with a challenging expression on his face.

"Come on." Natsu gestured Gray forward with his hand, and the black haired teen shook his head and walked away.

While he walked, he said, "By the way, father wanted you to feed Happy." Happy was their beyond gluttonous, blue furred cat, which had a cheerful disposition. Despite belonging to Gray, Happy was more attached to Natsu.

Natsu nods, the spirit of competition drained from him. He stood, dusting off cinders from his patchwork pants and scrubbed at his cheeks. He left his position from the fire place and joyfully entered the kitchen, reaching for the cat food. He pulled some fish from the containers on the counter and tossed a couple of fish into Happy's bowl.

Happy trotted in, mewling at Natsu and plopped down in front of his dish, munching on his fish. Natsu grinned, and kneeled next to him, petting him. Happy purred, nuzzling against Natsu's hand.

"How's your day been?" He asks, feeling as if this feline before him was his only companion in the world. Of course Happy didn't answer, he was just a cat, but still, it was nice.

Natsu's mother, Porlyusica had died roughly a year or so after marrying his step-father, Makarov. Since then, he'd really been alone, with the exception of his furry friend.

"Father wants to see you," Loke says from the doorway. Loke, with his spiky orange hair and hazel eyes, was the younger of the two step-siblings, and a huge flirt.

Nodding, Natsu gives Happy one last rub before he stands and follows Loke to Makarov's study. He trailed his fingers along the banister, aimlessly behind Loke, wondering if trees felt pain when they were cut down.

"The Princess is looking for a husband?" Gray asks in astonishment, Natsu and Loke only hearing the butt end of their conversation. The tiny, greying haired man turned and grinned eagerly at Gray.

"She is. We received an invite in the mail to a ball." Makarov proudly displays the letter. Loke quickly reaches for it, taking it from his father's grasp, scanning the contents.

Natsu hung back awkwardly, wanting to know just what they wanted from him. He fiddled with a pot on a pedestal and kept his ears open in case he was called on.

Loke sighs, "I hear the Princess is gorgeous." He places the paper back down onto the desk top.

Gray stripped off his shirt, "So what exactly are we supposed to do?"

"Go to the ball," Makarov states bluntly. "Make her fall for you. After all, with the Princess as our relative, it could open up opportunities for us. Like with money." Before marrying Natsu's mother, those three were as broke as peasants. The money seemed to be going to good use, not.

_A ball? _Natsu thinks, confused. _I thought balls were toys…_? He shakes his head, _no they're a dance or something. Wait! They serve food! I want to go!_

His subconscious screams at him to ask if he could go with them, but the obedient self he has become repressed this urge, barely.

"And you, Natsu," Makarov begins, turning to Natsu, "you must help Gray and Loke with their suits. The ball is tonight. Hurry up."

He wanted Natsu to sew? Has he lost his marbles? Natsu could hardly keep from rolling flaming logs down the hallway or ripping curtains when he opened them. But Makarov was saying he wanted Natsu to _sew _a dress?

"But—I can't sew," Natsu protests, mashing his teeth together.

"Father, its fine, we both already have suits. He can just do some altercations. I don't want to look like I was patched together in five minutes for this important evening." Gray couldn't be described as anything but snobbish. Natsu shots him a fiery glare and returns his smoldering eyes to the burgundy carpets.

Makarov shrugs, "If you insist. We leave at sundown." He strides purposely from the room, giving Natsu the look.

"Go into our rooms and retrieve our suits. We'll tell you what we want then get to work." Loke's command rings out across the vast space of the room.

Fine. Natsu complies, slipping from the room silently as the brother's bickered over who'd get to talk to the Princess first. He didn't even care about a stupid girl in some fancy party dress, he just wanted to eat some fancy foods. The foods he could be dissolving on his pallet could be so exotic it'd send him right to a new tropical location.

Natsu dug through each of Gray and Loke's closets, searching for these supposed suits. Loke's was a black tuxedo, worn away at the knee caps and elbows. Gray's was black also, but covered in so many stains it appeared brown.

First things first, Natsu set to work on cleaning the atrociously dirty garments, scrubbing till his knuckles were red from exertion. Then, he cautiously tailored their suits, only messing up slightly on Loke's, but nothing a simple minded girl would see.

He returned the outfits to Loke and Gray, snarling something about ungrateful bastards under his breath.

From there, he just sat on the floor in a corner, muttering to himself how much he wanted to go to sample some of the food. He didn't even notice when they left.

**XXX**

"Your majesty! Please! Get into your dress!" the maid fought, yanking the young Princess back in through the window. The maids white blonde hair shone golden in the setting sun, leading the Princess back through the window.

Lucy shook her head defiantly, "I don't even want to have this stupid ball! I don't want to find a husband." She pointed out the window. "I want to travel, explore the world."

"Well you're a Princess, deal with it," Lisanna snapped, angrily gesturing to Lucy's attire. She dawned on her body mini cargo shorts, knee high brown leather boots and a long sleeved wool sweater, lowly cut of course.

"Will you get off my back if I do this?" Lucy demands, crossing her arms over her largely bust.

Lisanna sighed, exasperated, "Yes!"

"Fine," Lucy gave in. Lisanna promptly stripped her of her attire and wound a corset around her body. Lucy rolled her eyes, _don't I have enough curves as it is_? Lisanna tightened it extremely, so much in fact that Lucy's breathing stopped and her breasts were nearly popping from the material. Lisanna loosened it quickly.

Once the whole ordeal of getting the corset adjusted and the lacy stockings up, Lisanna took out the dress. It was pink and absolutely gorgeous. It fit the young woman like a glove, and Lucy spun in it once. The skirt flared away from her body, the overlapping layers of soft silk in different shade of pink darting out in multiple directions, the roses glittering in the pale light. Her bodice was tight, covered in laces, and ruffled out just centimeters before the skirt. Lucy's hair fell down her back in cascading waves of gold, a small silver tiara woven through the honeyed strands. Her deep brown eyes stood out against the powdered skin of her face, framed by thick, long black lashes, her lips deeply red. She was truly a vision. Her appearance was complete putty in the merciless hands of her maid.

"You look beautiful, your highness," Lisanna compliments. "Now get downstairs."

"Hai."

**XXX**

Natsu kicked over the bucket of grimy water, watching with mild satisfaction as it seeped into the floorboards. He really wanted to go, to eat food of course.

He stormed out the backdoors, wanting to destroy something else, weeds. He picked out weeds at a furious pace, tossing them carelessly over his shoulder.

"Oi…" Some growled, irritated.

Natsu was on his feet, whipping around, wielding a weed as his weapon of choice. It was a guy. He had long, slicked back black hair, with red eyes and many, _many _piercings. He was coolly dressed in a black pin stripped suit, with a neat little hat on his mane of hair.

"Who the hell are you?" Natsu demands, waving his weed around crazily.

He simply smacked the weed away, "I'm Gajeel. I'm your fairy godfather." Gajeel winced at the term 'fairy'.

Natsu burst out laughing, "You're a fairy?! Oh Mavis that is so awesome!" Gajeel twitched.

"Do you want help getting to the ball and meeting the Princess or not?" Gajeel snarls, glaring at him.

"Actually," Natsu beings, unfazed, "I wanted to go for the food."

"No matter," Gajeel waves his hand. He hears a beep and pulls out a _pink_, _glittery_ wand from his pocket and checks it. He curses. "Give me a second, it's the wife."

Natsu just about burst out laughing, the wand was a form of communication for his fairy godfather to talk to his _wife_? He was going to tell this story in the future.

Gajeel barks into the wand, "I'm with a client right now, Shrimp." _His wife's name was Shrimp_? Natsu thinks, incredulously. _No, it must have just been a nickname_. "Yes! I will be at there! Stop harassing me!" Gajeel snaps.

Natsu scratched his head, confused, "Er…"

The godfather growled and hung up, "Anyway, back to business. Get off the rags, blah blah blah, clean ya up blah blah blah and be back before eleven thirty four kapish?"

"Eleven thirty four? I thought it was midnight?" Natsu exclaims, more confused than he's been before in his life.

Gajeel waves his hand dismissively, "Midnight is so boring. Besides, there was a rule change ever since the incident years ago."

Natsu wanted to ask, and almost did, but this time, he kept the question to himself. "Now what?" He questions instead.

Gajeel pointed the wand at him, "Get his ass ready for the ball." Natsu blinked in shock as a pink beam shot at him. Truthfully, he expected Gajeel to ramble off some fake magical words, but what he said was effective enough.

From rags to riches. Natsu was now sharply dressed in a white suit, with his pants so crisp he wondered where they came from. He was cleaned, and he figured he probably smelt better than he'd ever had before in his life. Black shoes completed his look. Well, what actually completed the look was a white muffler around his neck, replacing the tie.

"Go, but remember, be back before eleven thirty four, those clothes belong to my wife, she made them, and she expects them back. So unless you don't want to turn into a patchwork commoner at the ball, you'll do as I say." Gajeel disappears in a poof of green smoke. Natsu has to rub his eyes to make sure it really happened.

"That bastard…" Natsu was left with no transportation, not that he would use it anyways, he'd get far too sick, but he was left with a sick feeling. It was nine thirty, and by the time he got there, it'd be around ten or ten thirty.

So he began the arduous task of stalking to the ball, not even once breaking a sweat due to the magical properties of the clothes. Or maybe because he just walked down a hill…

**XXX**

"Lucy-sama, shall we dance?" A male with bright spiky orange hair asked, bending slightly at the waist. He offered her his hand, which she took grudgingly.

"Name?" She demands when the dance begins, hoping to ward off any potential perverts.

"Loke," he answers, massaging her hip with his hand. Immediately, Lucy pushed away from him, feeling an awkward tremor go up her spine.

"Don't ever touch me again," she snarls. Loke holds up his hands in a failing defense, and backs away.

Lucy heard a sigh from beside her, and glanced over. "Lady Fernandez," Lucy greets to her old friend.

The red head had her long hair pinned up, and she simply smiled at Lucy. "You're scaring away suitors."

"Good," Lucy scoffs, sending her father a grin.

Erza frowned, "Well you have to find someone you're going to enjoy dancing with."

Lucy wanted to disagree with her, but since Erza was such an influential woman, and one of her closest friends. "Alright… I'll go find someone." Erza's grin grows, and she winks.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a dance scheduled with my husband." She flounces off, grabbing the blue haired man by the arm to dance, bringing her arms around his neck. Lucy felt a pang, a pang of jealousy, and was surprised. She, despite how much she denied it, wanted a relationship like that.

She needed a drink…

**XXX**

Natsu scarfed down a plate of food, moaning from how good it was. He turned around abruptly, wanting to get something else and bumped into a girl.

The girl was short, but she had a voluptuous body which made Natsu's mouth go dry.

"I'm sorry," she says, reaching around him for a wine glass. Her breasts brushed against his hand, and Natsu stepped back immediately.

She glances up at him, amused, with large brown eyes. She takes a slow sip from her wine, a small smirk forming on her lips.

"Care to dance?" She asks, handing the glass off to a server.

Natsu felt like he should just walk away, but hey, why not right? He put down his plate and offered her his hand.

She took it, and led him onto the balcony. Natsu tilted his head, bemused.

"It's cooler out there," she answers his unspoken question, "plus the view is amazing." It was amazing, Natsu was breathless.

Natsu nods, pulling her flesh against him. She slowly wraps her arms around his neck, and he could see her breath hitch. A slow blush was working its way up her neck, and her breathing was slow.

"If I had the choice to, I would leave here and never come back," She whispered, almost so softly he just about missed it.

"Why?" He asks as they sway back and forth to the music inside.

She laughs softly, pressing her cheek against his chest. His heart thudded in his chest as a gentle lull. "I want to travel, to explore the world."

Natsu couldn't help agree, "I agree. I want to leave and never come back."

She doesn't respond, and their dance continues. "You haven't even told me your name."

"You either," he shoots back tenderly, teasingly almost.

"I thought you knew…" She muttered, tilting her head to look up at him, meeting his inquisitive black gaze. "My name is Lucy." Warning bells rang in Natsu's ears. Lucy… Why did it sound so familiar? The longer he ogled her the more he didn't really care why her name was familiar. She was beautiful.

"I'm…" Natsu was cut off by the ring of a clock. It was eleven thirty. Dammit! He'd spent all that time eating instead of dancing with Lucy.

"You're…?" Lucy prompts, sliding her hands down his muscled arms, squeezing his fingers.

"I have to go." He stepped away from her, dropping her hands. Hurt flashed across her face, and he swallowed thickly. Natsu grabbed the ledge of the balcony and leapt over it, thanking the lord it wasn't that high up. He was running before he hit the ground, leaving behind the girl.

Lucy felt tears prickle the backs of her eyes, watching the pink haired man run away, wondering why his rejection hurt her so much. Something white caught her eye, and his white muffler was hooked around the balcony edge. She picked it up.

Tomorrow, she'd find him. Tonight, the ball was over.

**XXX**

"Your majesty, I don't think this is a wise idea!" Lisanna protested, following Lucy as she stormed into the throne room. Lucy just ignored her, fixing her hair with a blue ribbon as she walked.

Jude sat on the throne, poised and regal. His eyes widened at Lucy's attire. Denim miniskirt, tight white tank top which exposed her lacy black bra and the leather boots she was denied wearing the other night.

"What are you wearing?" Jude exclaimed, his loud voice booming in the small space.

Lucy evaded his question by holding up the muffler of the man she danced with last night. "I'm going to look for the owner of this scarf."

Jude blinked at her, "Why?"

"Because once I find him, I'm going to leave with him," Lucy answers honestly, and Lisanna gasps, horrified.

"What?!" Jude roars, and Lucy stares at him levelly.

"I'm taking charge of my life. You can't control me anymore. I want to travel, and I want to travel with him." Determination burned in her brown eyes.

Jude stayed firm for long moments until he sighed, completely and utterly defeated. "If I am to agree to this crazy charade, I want you to marry this man before you leave and when you _do _return, rule with him."

"If he agrees," Lucy states, crossing her arms.

"Fine."

So Lucy left the palace in search of the muffler owner, with Lisanna hot on her tail.

She knocked on every door in the kingdom, searching for the pink haired man. Although she did meet other pink haired men, none of them were _hers. _She would obviously recognize his face.

Lucy felt like giving up. Her search was just getting nowhere. She decided on searching one more house.

"Your highness?" A handsome black haired man asked in surprise when he opened the door. Lucy crossed her arms, the muffler having been wound around her neck, raised her eyebrows.

"Can I come in?" She didn't wait for a response, and just pushed past him. Lisanna entered behind her mistress, apologizing repeatedly to Gray.

Gray just shrugged, "What can we do for you?" he seemed friendly enough.

"I'm looking for someone I met at the ball last night," Lucy responds.

Curiosity peeks in Gray's expression, "What's his name?"

Lucy shook her head, "No. But he has pink hair." Gray's eyes widened in shock. Was she referring to…?

Before he could stop her, Lucy walked into the den where a man was slumped over the fire place, cleaning out cinders. Well, to be more precise, was playing with the flames.

"Hey, wait, don't go in there!" It was too late. Lucy already noticed the pink hair. All that was left was the face.

She walked towards him, and went for his shoulder. But he was already turning. Their eyes met, and the world melted away from Lucy's feet.

She collapsed to her knees next to him, throwing her arms around his grimy body. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Why?" He mutters, sliding his arms around her waist.

"You wanted to travel too, didn't you?" She pulled back a little to grin at him shyly.

He beams, "I can't wait to taste all those foreign foods!" She giggled, and tugged him down, kissing him delicately. They broke the kiss, each blushing.

"I think this is yours…" She trailed off, not knowing his name.

He brushed his cheek against hers, whispering in her ear, "Natsu."

Lucy returned his muffler too him, and scarcely heard him mutter, "I wonder why this didn't disappear in sparkly pink dust too."

Gray cleared his throat, and Lucy stood, bringing Natsu up with her. "Sorry to intrude, but I found who I was looking for. We'll be going now." She jerked her chin towards the door and Lisanna immediately left. Lucy kept a firm hold on Natsu's hand, "Thank you."

On the way out, Natsu laughed happily, "Where to first, Princess?" She gave him the look, "Okay, where to first _Lucy_."

She smiled, squeezing his fingers tighter, "I was thinking the wedding chapel."

That was how the lowly cinder boy Natsu met his Princess Lucy.

With a little help from his Fairy Godfather Gajeel.

**Well, with that, I hope you liked it ;) Review if you'd like and I hope to hear from you again!**

**~Emerald~**


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